There are a few memorable travel experiences I could write about.

There was the first overseas travel to the UK.

Perhaps my first overseas trip for a youth conference in the US – I missed my 20th birthday crossing the International Dateline on our return trip.  A pity it was not on the outwards trip – I would have had two!

Or possibly our first New Zealand trip – accompanying my husband there for a work conference.

The trip to write about though is our recent road trip to visit our daughter and family in Noosa.  We had few plans, just decided each day where to go the following day.  Arriving in a town, we would find a motel with a vacancy.  We only had two specific dates to meet – family visits.  We did not specify a date for our arrival in Noosa, just a range of dates.  The trip was notable for our visits to some interesting places we had not visited previously.

First was our last visit to my sister-in-law in her Lakes Entrance home, with attached B&B.  They have sold the property and are moving.

Then we stopped for an hour at Marlo, where the Snowy River meets the sea. 

We met up with my niece in Coffs Harbour – the first time we had visited her for around eighteen years.  And it was several years since we had seen with her husband, who works in the maritime industry.

Our longest stop was in Byron Bay.  We found a motel on the edge of town, and checked in for two nights.  After looking at what we could do in the area we added an extra night to our stay.  We visited Nimbin and Bangalow, both interesting towns for different reasons.  Our second day in Byron Bay, we walked up to the lighthouse, and then further on to the most easterly point of the Australian mainland.

We eventually arrived in Noosa on our tenth day on the road.

We enjoyed time with our grandchildren, as well as further explorations.  We headed to Maleny and wandered around the various shops.  Perhaps the highlight here was walking in the Noosa National Park.  Two points along the way we saw dolphins playing around off the coast.

Finally, it was time to head home, a faster trip than our travels north.  There was one further visit we wanted to make.  My parents-in-law had lived in a town called Stanthorpe in southern Queensland, and wanted to drive past.  It was particularly interesting as there was a huge rock in the yard which our children loved climbing.  We wanted to get a photo of the house and rock.  It was raining so the photos were taken out the window of the car.  Still it was part of our family history and worth the small detour.
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Finally, we arrived home after nearly three weeks, driving 4970 kilometres, meeting up with family, visiting interesting places we have not seen previously, as well as re-visiting many other areas.

New Zealand, Christchurch

There were some firsts for our young family, and sadly some lasts as well.

My husband had travelled overseas many times as a child – he was in boarding school in England while his father was working in the middle east.  I had travelled overseas once for a youth conference while at university.  But our children, 4 and 6, had never been outside Australia.  So, an opportunity to accompany my husband when he attended a work conference in Christchurch looked like a good idea.  This was our first overseas trip as a family, and the first time we had accompanied my husband on one of his overseas trips.

We were living in Adelaide at the time, so the first apart of the trip was travel to Melbourne.  It might be that we drove to Melbourne – it was a long time ago.  More of why I think that later.

Both children had flown before, so the flight to Christchurch was not their first flight.  The flight from Melbourne to Christchurch though was the first overseas, long flight for them.

The accommodation for conference attendees was university residents – a vague memory was that the food was also available at the university cafeteria.  Most of our previous holidays were either to family or gliding fields, so in a sense this was a first for the children.

While my husband attended various conference sessions, the children and I were free to do our own wandering around Christchurch.  In a way, this was really a first for me – wandering around a new city without other adult company.  My memories at this stage a bit unclear.  I do remember walking along the Avon River, and noticing how clean and clear it was.  We did go on a short bus tour with some other young families who had accompanied someone attending the conference.  There was a visit to the Christchurch Cathedral, sadly now destroyed by earthquake – this could be considered a last.

There was one day during the conference that was free – with a couple of tour options available.  We elected to take a train trip to Arthur’s Pass.  This was where we had another first for our children.  Having spent much of their short lives in Adelaide, they had never had an opportunity to see snow.  Unfortunately, there was not any real snow around during our visit, but there was one small area in the shadow of a small building where the snow had not melted.  Another first for Matthew and Jemma – an opportunity to play in snow.

The reason that I believe we had driven to Melbourne from Adelaide was that we stopped in to visit my parents on our return.  Here we met my brother’s young son for the first time – he was about 4 or 5 months old.

This was also the last time we saw my father as he passed away in November of that year.

So, a trip of firsts and lasts for us.

Joy Shirley, July 2017

In 1955, we left our family home in Healesville to move to Melbourne where my parents believed there were some better education opportunities for the four of us.  The home we lived in consisted of living accommodation plus what was then called a roadhouse – a milk bar/café combination – which my mother ran.  With the move, we rented out the property.

I remember many times the six of us would climb into the car – a 1949 FX Holden, and later a 1956 FJ – to drive to Healesville to collect the rent.  This meant driving from Clayton through Ringwood and onto the Maroondah Highway, across the Yarra River, through Lilydale and finally into Healesville.

One clear memory is of the approach to Lilydale, driving down the hill overlooking the limestone quarry then over the railway line.

My sister always got to be in the front seat – she claimed she would be “carsick” if she was in the back seat.  Occasionally my older brother used that excuse, and managed to be in the front seat.  My younger brother and I never got that coveted position.  I was never sick, so it was considered that it was not necessary.

One clear memory is of the approach to Lilydale, driving down the hill overlooking the limestone quarry then over the railway line.

The roads were not quite the same as they are today of course.  The crossing of the Yarra River was at an area that we all called the “Yarra Flats”.  It was in fact the flood plain for the river.  The road was pretty much at ground level – today it has been raised much higher, above the flood level.  I remember one occasion when we headed off to Healesville, I assume during late winter or early spring.  There had been a lot of rain and the Yarra River was in flood.  We arrived at the “Yarra Flats”, only to find that the road was under water.  Another car had come across from the opposite direction successfully.  I cannot remember who was driving, my mother or father, but they tried to drive through the water.  Cars were even more susceptible to water, and the car engine stopped.  Fortunately, there was a car that had come through who was able to help us.  Needless to say, we turned around and went back home – no travel to Healesville that weekend!

Joy Shirley, July 2017